Advocacy for Chronic Pain Patients

Advocacy for Chronic Pain Patients

There are legal and financial barriers to pain patients getting the care that they need and deserve. There are many proven pain treatments that can help chronic pain patients who suffer from severe, debilitating or disabling pain conditions including chronic back pain, neck pain, fibromyalgia, neuropathy, migraine or tension headaches, arthritis, CRPS, and traumatic injury, that are unaffordable due to lack of insurance coverage, or, in the case of medical marijuana/cannabis, are illegal. Patients and alternative medicine providers from many disciplines need to come together to advocate for better access to safe, effective alternative therapies. WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER! Sign and share the petitions below so we can make change happen.

Require Insurance Companies to Pay for Alternative Pain Treatments

Health insurance companies willingly pay for pharmaceutical and surgical treatment for pain patients, the most expensive and dangerous forms of care. Millions of Americans, most of them pain patients, have become addicted to prescription painkillers and over 190,000 have died of overdoses. Many have been subjected to surgical procedures that caused harm rather than helped them. Many who’ve tried these treatments are still in considerable pain.

At the same time, people in pain are being denied insurance coverage for safer, more effective treatments including physical therapy, massage, chiropractic, biofeedback, acupuncture, marijuana, low level laser therapy, psychotherapy, nutritional and herbal interventions.

We need a law that requires health insurance companies to cover all proven effective treatments for pain to the same degree that they cover pharmaceuticals and that requires physicians to be educated about these therapies.

Please support a Pain Treatment Parity Act that requires health insurers to provide coverage for alternative pain treatments that is equivalent to coverage of pharmaceuticals with respect to treatment frequency, length of treatment, pre-authorization requirements, co-pays, deductibles, medical necessity reviews and any other requirements that determine access to and affordability of care.

In addition, given that non-physician health care providers have not had increases in fees for more than 35 years, the Pain Treatment Parity Act should require that alternative pain treatment provider fees are increased on a par with past physician fee increases to insure continuing availability of these critical services.

Medical Marijuana Needs to Be Legal and Affordable Nationwide Now

Government agencies, including the CDC, the VA, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as well as private insurers, are restricting access to opioids for people in chronic pain. No other treatment is being offered in its place.

Medical marijuana is safe and effective for chronic pain. It contains cannabinoids, the body's own natural painkillers. Marijuana is not physically addictive and no one has ever died of an overdose. Marijuana also helps with withdrawal from opiods and prevents development of opioid tolerance.

Please make medical marijuana legal nationwide and require that health insurers pay for it so pain patients can get affordable relief from their suffering.

Let the White House know Kratom is safe and should remain as a dietary supplement.

Kratom, a Southeast Asian herb, is a safe and effective treatment for chronic pain and addiction that the FDA and DEA are trying to ban. Tell the President to keep kratom legal and available to patients who want to use it.